Flooding forced hundreds of people to leave their homes and closed hundreds of roads Wednesday across a wide part of the central United States as a huge storm system dropped as much as 30 centimeters of rain on the region. Four deaths were linked to the flooding in Missouri, and five people were killed in a highway accident in heavy rain in Kentucky. Searches were underway in Texas for a person washed down a drainage pipe and in Missouri for a man missing in a creek. Two people were missing in Arkansas after their vehicles were swept away by rushing water. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued flood warnings from Texas to Pennsylvania on Wednesday, and evacuations were being carried out in parts of Missouri, Arkansas, and Ohio. Heavy rains began Monday and have not stopped. Over 30 centimeters had fallen in parts of Arkansas and about 25 centimeters was dropped by Wednesday morning in southeastern Missouri, where officials said street flooding stranded some residents in their homes. Outside St. Louis, Missouri, the Meramec River was expected to crest 3.5 to 5 meters above flood stage at some locations, threatening nearby towns. Flooding was widespread in Arkansas, washing out some highways and leading to evacuations in parts of three counties.
